It's A Matter of Life and Death: Growing Up in a Funeral Home and What I Learned Since

Noted author of the comprehensive "Fifty Classics" series, Tom Butler-Bowdon, offered his testimonial saying: "Larry's book combines positive psychology, motivation and memoir to provide a powerful reminder to really live while we are alive, regretting nothing. His lively reminiscences of growing up in a funeral home are not morbid, but lie in the tradition of a Zen Buddhist meditation on death: facing the great uncertainty and inevitability of death, we are reminded of the opportunity to love, and most of all, to be grateful for everything.""It's a Matter of Life and Death" can help anyone who is: •seeking happiness •curious about life in a funeral home •facing a serious illness or knows someone else who is grieving and working their way back toward recovery •a health care provider, counselor, or practitioner in the funeral industry trying to help others cope with illness or loss and is seeking an additional way to convey positive messages •seeking a varied discussion guide of what matters in life and what death can teach us. The book's emphasis is on life and living a better one, not on death. It's inspirational and motivational and contains a great deal of practical information about funeral homes, funerals and life experiences.SAN FRANCISCO BOOK REVIEW: We rated this book: *****"It’s a Matter of Life and Death: Growing Up in a Funeral Home and What I Learned Since" by Lawrence Danks is about death and happiness. Having grown up working in and living above a funeral home with his sister and parents, Danks has grown up with a better appreciation for the subject of death and the joy and sorrow that goes with it. The book is broken into three sections, including ways to achieve personal happiness, stories and information about the funeral business, and a compilation of information that Danks has acquired regarding happiness, death, and what must be dealt with afterwards.This is a great resource book that offers informative and entertaining reading. Danks makes the book personable by including stories from his life to supplement the rest of each chapter. I like how this is a book about living in a funeral home, as well as a self-help book, that provides information to allow the reader a better chance of living their best life while they still can. I particularly enjoyed the following passage from the book: “Irrespective of one’s belief, it’s not sensible to worry about things you have no control over.” Death is one of those inevitable things, so live your life in the best way possible."- Rachel Dehning